Average isn’t Good Enough Anymore

Recently, marketing expert Seth Godin, an author of 13 books, was interviewed by a Canadian talk show host, George Stroumboulopoulos. Godin, who writes about the post-industrial revolution, the way ideas spread, marketing, leadership and “changing everything,” made the case in the interview that the average worker will not see average income in the future. He says that you must become the above-average worker.

If not, “the current recession will become the permanent recession” for you, Godin says. He also went on to say, “If you are the average worker doing average work, someone will do it cheaper. Now that the industrial revolution in America is over, the days when people were able to get above-average pay for average work is over.”

When applying their philosophy to our industry, I couldn’t agree more. In prospecting for new business, the insurance agent or registered representative must get on board with change. I’m still annoyed by the number of agents I speak to every week who still don’t have rudimentary knowledge of the Internet or even their computer.

If you still say, “I don’t like all of this technology — smart phones, the Internet, e-readers, computers and the like,” you will be left behind. Accordingly, in prospecting, we must embrace tried and proven techniques and integrate them with new technology and new planning to deliver our products.